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Thứ Tư, 30 tháng 3, 2011

tuffed parathas are really popular in India. They can be found on the menus of high-end restaurants as well are made fresh to order in road side dhabas. They come in different types obviously varying by their filling. I have yet to meet a person who does not like them, yes regardless of their filling. There is just something about them.

A stuffed paratha is basically an unleavened and pan fried flat bread stuffed with variety of fillings like spicy potatoes, peas, cauliflower, paneer and even with chicken. You can even find them with sweet fillings too. They are generally served simply with pickle, yogurt or just a little pat of butter... mmmm! It is a staple dish in almost all Indian households with minor variation in the recipe here and there. I remember mom often used to make these for breakfast and also sometimes for dinner with tomato chutney during winter times and it was always soul satisfying.

Hubby loves aloo paratha and my favorite is the one with stuffed peas. In this recipe I added some of the leftover methi leaves to my regular recipe of matar parathas and the result was fabulous. The sweetness of the peas with the flavor of methi and all the spices tucked inside the crispy yet soft bread was a total winner.

I chose to accompany my parathas with some raita. The raita below is one of my mom's famous raita recipe. The sweet tiny mini grapes with the fresh creamy yogurt and nuts is a the perfect side with these or any kind of stuffed parathas.

Thứ Hai, 28 tháng 3, 2011

ere is a instant coffee recipe that is now on top of my list of recipes for coffee based drinks. The other day on a lazy sunday afternoon we felt like some hot coffee. Just when I was about to put a pot on, hubby out-of-the-blue asked if I had any instant coffee. He had suddenly recalled how him and his hostel buddies used to make instant coffee during college days.

There is no way I am ever going to drink hot coffee any other way now. I am so hooked. It is special also as I believe somehow it makes me a part of those days when he was in college (of course I gave him a hard time about what took him all these years to get reminded of it :) Besides the emotional aspect of it, I was also enamored by the details of the steps involved in getting it perfect.

Let me tell you that this coffee is the way coffee is done in Indian households (except with his twist in the whisking process). If you have lived outside of India for a while and your taste buds have gotten used to the bitter black coffee (or for that matter have never tasted 'Indian coffee'), this may take a little getting used to. This coffee is much lighter in color, is sweet, is milk based and is totally out of this world good.

Heat a wok with oil add the onion and ginger garlic paste fry till the onion turns transparent add the 5spice powder and chillies fry a bit add the mushroom and capsicum fry place a cover and allow the mushroom to wilt down a bit in 5 minutes you can see the amount of moisture the mushroom has oozed depending on the moisture add very little water for the bell peppers to cook place the cover back and allow the moisture to evaporate at the same time mushroom and the pepper should have cooked in add the spring onion and pepper powder and fry for 3 more minutes .

Garnish with lime juice and mint leafs serve hot with any rice dishes best served with south Indian meals...Enjoy...:)

Thứ Sáu, 25 tháng 3, 2011

ot much of a story this time, just wanted to combine two of my favorite things in one i.e. pesto and hummus.

I love hummus. My love affair with hummus started a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve made a few different types including of course the traditional hummus. Hummus means chickpea in Arabic. It only requires a few ingredients and about five minutes to make. It pairs wonderfully with fresh vegetables, pita bread, and pita chips. This is one snack that you don’t have to feel guilty about eating!

Roasted red peppers add a delicious twist to hummus, plus they give it some extra nutrition. If you like hummus and if you like the sweet smoky flavor of red bell pepper you gotta try this. Now pesto - I am a die hard fan - love the concept, taste everything. It can jazz up everything- so today I added some left over homemade tomato pesto in the hummus and bingo - the creamy dip with a hint of mild smokiness and taste of bell peppers, some Indian spices, tanginess of the tomato pesto and the kick of lots of garlic and evoo... yummmmmmmmy... my kinda stuff!! Perfect for dipping. Also can be used as a spread for a savory sandwich. I love all kind of hummus as a dip with baked pita chips (which I am totally addicted to). You can also serve it with cut up veggies.

Once the meat and dhal has cooked allow the moisture to evaporate remove from flame allow the mixture to cool down.

Fourth Step:

Add the meat mixture to a blender and grind to a paste with out adding water check for salt add if needed.

Remove the cheese from the fridge mix once.

Take a portion of the ground meat mixture create a ball and form a well in the center of the mixture take 1/2 tsp of filling and place it in the middle now cover all the edges and seal the filling create a patty shape.

Heat a tava or skillet on low flame add 2 Tbsp of oil start frying the patty gently turn the patty to the other side once its brown fry till both sides of the patty turn to light golden brown color..serve hot with mint or radish chutney...Enjoy...:)

I ♥ shami kabab its so soft and delicate packed with awesome flavors its not oily at all very healthy and nutritious I eat shami kabab in 2 ways first i would spread some chutney on a pav bun and place the shami kabab in the middle and eat it we call that an Indian burger and some time i would roll the kabab with roti and eat it with onion I call this as shami roll...:P any way you eat shami its so nice and tasty try my recipe and post your comments...♥♥♥

ad Thai is Thailand's ubiquitous street food that needs little introduction. I believe if you really want to get a real taste of the food and culture of a place you should try its street food. The street food of a place defines the food and culture of a place and is usually the best the culture has to offer. Thai cuisine is definitely my favorite after Italian (and of course Indian). Pad Thai has all the qualities I like and more. It contains noodles, lots of veggies, crunchy roasted peanuts and is simmered in a tangy, sweet and spicy tamarind-soy based sauce. It is my second favorite Thai entrée after red thai curry which I order every time I visit any Thai restaurant. It is one of the national dishes of Thailand and is perhaps the most beloved of all Thai dishes and also the favorite of vegetarians like me. One put off for me being a veggie is the fish sauce/shrimp paste used in the preparation so lately I have making the dish at home without the fish/shrimp and you get the clean tasty dish custom made per your liking not to mention it is a breeze to make.

The term 'Pad Thai' literally translates to 'fried thai', but it really refers to (usually) flat rice noodles fried with thai spices and seasonings.

In a bowl add maida and whole wheat flour add the chilly flakes and salt mix all the ingredients together add water little by little and knead the dough to a soft consistency add oil and knead further to a soft dough cover and allow the dough to rest for 1/2 hour.

Second Step:

Boil or steam the green peas drain the water if any pat dry and reserve in a bowl.

In a coffee grinder or mixer jar add the ginger and chillies grind to a coarse paste with out adding any water.

Add the cooked peas to the coarse ground masala and grind to a coarse paste reserve in a bowl do not add water while grinding.

Heat a wok with 2 tbsp oil add asafoetida and tip in your green peas paste fry for a minute add the cumin powder and chat masala mix well and fry add salt and coriander leafs stir well and fry for 10minutes till the moisture has gone and all the ingredients combine well.

Reserve the peas mixture in a bowl and allow to cool down completely before filling.

Lets Prepare:

Make medium size roundels out of the dough and dip into extra flour place it on a rolling board using a rolling pin flatten the sides of the dough leaving the center take about 4 to 6 tbsp of filling and place in the middle fold all the edges sealing the filling in the middle and roll back into a roundel and dip the roundel in the flour roll out into a paratha.

Heat a skillet/tava or fry pan start frying the paratha flip to either sides of the paratha add 1tbsp of oil and fry the paratha Serve hot with raita or pickle...Enjoy...:)

I agree i'm not an expert cook as my mom to prepare perfect round paratha anyhow this is my first attempt trying to prepare peas paratha if i can do it so can you try it out its fun and super easy.

he past week was good fun. My brother was visiting us for the last few days, hubby took a couple of days off work and then of course the festival of Holi. We had a lot of fun with a lot of hanging out, cooking up a storm, riding around town, eating out on occasion when I did not feel like cooking, playing a game of cards or scrabble... you get the idea. All in all, it was great and as I write this on late Sunday evening (which by-the-way is the worst time of the week for me) with mixed emotions I realized I missed out on updates from the blog world for which I believe I owe an apology to all my dear friends.

This is a dish that I made a few days ago, again in my methi cooking frenzy, which like most other methi dishes was a hit with hubby and believe it or not with my little princess too. It is a protein packed dish and is relatively easy to put together too. If you like chhole, you are gonna love this. It goes great with puris and especially a flavored puri like the ajwain puri that I have posted here. The ajwain flavor is simple and nice and the puris can be had as a snack by themselves too.

Thứ Tư, 16 tháng 3, 2011

ujiya is a traditional indian sweet dish made typically during the festival of Holi. The sweet delicious filling inside the crunchy flaky pastry covering tastes out of this world and makes you want to grab some again and again. Gujias slightly vary from region to region. In the Northern parts of India, the filling is made with sweetened khoya and dry fruits and nuts while in South Western States, it consists of shredded coconut, nuts and jaggery or sugar. I of course like this the way my mom makes them.

Where I come from, we call it Pedukiya. These are made in most households during the festivities of Holi like it was in ours. They always take me back in time to those days when on the morning of the festival, you would wake up and go out on the streets armed with all your paints, colors and gulal. Any person you find young or old, whether you know them or not, you make sure you get them painted beyond recognition. Of course you get the brunt of it too so much so you would not recognize if you saw yourself in the mirror... lol. While you did all that, you would sneak an occasional peak in the house and pick a taste of all the goodies mom was busy cooking up. I remember how my mother and aunts used to make it and how all of us children would huddle up in the kitchen and be curious and all excited, waiting for the treat. The sweet aroma of festivity, sounds of laughter, the deep frying, chit-chat, gossip... I miss them all... here in my kitchen when alone I cook something like this there is not someone always to taste as it comes hot off the frying pan, the chit-chat... but the aroma of cooking the warmth of festivity makes me feel at home again. I have the sweetest and the most caring man in the whole world who is my sous chef my taster my food critic, my everything. With him and my our little bundle of joy everyday feels like a festival and keep me going!

Peel the cucumber and cut into half with a help of a spoon remove the seeds and chop into chunks wash throughly drain and reserve.

Peel the carrot cut into chunks wash drain and reserve.

clean the mint and coriander leafs wash throughly pat dry set aside.

In a blender add the cucumber, carrots, mint, coriander, cumin and pepper grind to a fine puree.

Add the yogurt to the ground puree add salt as per taste and blend once more if needed add water blend well. serve chilled...Enjoy....:)

Lot of you have requested me to prepare summer recipes this is an excellent meal for summer afternoon we prepare this at home almost every single day its nice and refreshing you can even add fresh ginger if you like ginger taste. Chill the soup for 1/2 hour in the fridge and serve we normally do not prefer a heavy meal during summer mom would prepare a heavy brunch and late in the afternoon we would have this soup...try this recipe and post your comments...:)

Thứ Hai, 14 tháng 3, 2011

ne afternoon when I was sitting around thinking what I could cook up next, my baking genes started to flare up. The obvious question was what to bake. As I sat there and thought, I basically kicked myself for not having thought about the most common form of cake that I ate and made growing up - a cake with Indian flavors.

I remember back at home when I first started learning to bake anything, I tried to make a cake in one of those small counter-top electric ovens. It was a recipe that everyone in my extended family used when they had to make a cake! Nothing extraordinary, just your basic cake but kicked up several notches by adding key Indian flavors like mawa and nuts. That made the cake almost a cross between a cake and an Indian sweet dish.

Having baked several different kinds of breads and cakes, I decided to put a little twist on the classic recipe by adding pistachios and cardamom. Moreover, I believe this made the cake a bit more exotic, perfect for the upcoming occasion of the festival of Holi.

So here is the recipe for this fabulous fusion cake. Also, if mawa is difficult to find where you live, I have also detailed a couple of easy ways of making your own mawa at home. The use of mini bundt pan is optional. You can use any cake pan, I just thought they looked cute and were handy to serve to my little princess.

Wash the dal add 1 1/2 cups of water and cook the dal in a pressure cooker till well done.

Heat a heavy bottom Wok or a Pan use nonstick if possible add oil and clarified butter add the cumin and spices allow to splutter a bit add the ginger garlic paste along with the curry leafs stir and fry a bit add the onion, tomato and chillies add a pinch of asafoetida stir and fry till the onion and tomato sofens a bit add the chilly powder, coriander powder and the turmeric powder to the tomato stir and fry a bit add the dal stir well add the vegetables and salt stir well check and if needed add 1 cup water cover allow to boil.

Add the coriander to the boiling veges stir add the cooked macaroni stir check for salt add if needed sprinkle the shredded cheese on top cover for few minutes serve hot once the cheese melts....serve hot with raita...Enjoy...:)

I totally came up with this recipe one day we had lot of boiled veges and cooked leftover dal at home i came up with this recipe every one appreciate my new recipe at home and planned to share my new recipe on blog kids will like this for sure try it out post your comments.

Thứ Sáu, 11 tháng 3, 2011

y kid doesn't eat very well! The universal problem which has been troubling every parent since eternity (except the few lucky ones... touchwood :) is going on with me too. My little one is a picky eater and I mean REALLY picky. Since she was little tiny baby I had problem feeding her which used to be like 45 min to an hour in one sitting. She is almost four now but that still continues. The few things she likes are to eat are mushrooms, nutella, olives, paneer, pineapple and rotini pasta. She doesn't like sweets of any kind except chocolate and nutella (for that I don't blame her... she took after me after all :). She even eats the spicy mushroom curry without complaining. In fact she doesn't like being treated like a baby when it comes to food (or anything else). Believe it or not she does not like even the classic kids stuff like fries, nuggets and the like. Three going on thirteen if you know what I mean. Yup we have a drama queen in our house... lol. I keep on experimenting with the things she likes. Yesterday was no exception. I was thinking what to give her for dinner and I came up with this and bingo it was well liked by kiddo and papa alike :) And I got one more recipe to please the taste buds of my little princess and a perfect one pot meal for those lazy days.